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<\/a>Exclusive: Miss Israel Pageant Organizers Deny Claims by Titleholder Melanie Shiraz That 2026 Competition Is Rigged<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nShiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Organizers of the Miss Israel competition said in a statement given exclusively to The Algemeiner<\/em> late Wednesday that they reject all accusations by current Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz about this year\u2019s pageant being rigged.<\/span><\/p>\n Shiraz was crowned<\/a> Miss Israel in July 2025 at the competition held in Miami, Florida. Shiraz went on to represent Israel at the 2025 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Thailand in November.<\/span><\/p>\n For the last two years, the Miss Israel competition was held in Miami. The Miss Israel franchise is owned by the Israeli company Miss Israel LLC while Edgar Entertainment LLC is in charge of general production for the Miss Israel competition.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEdgar Entertainment and the Miss Israel franchise categorically reject allegations that the competition is illegitimate, that winners are predetermined, or that the process is manipulated. Such claims are false, unfounded, and damaging,\u201d attorneys for Miss Israel LLC said in a statement given to The Algemeiner<\/em> in response to Shiraz\u2019s accusations. \u201cWe demand that Ms. Shiraz and any other individuals cease and desist from publishing, repeating, or promoting false, misleading, or defamatory statements concerning the franchise, its ownership, or its management. We further request the prompt retraction of any such statements. All legal rights and remedies are expressly reserved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs always, Miss Universe Israel welcomes cooperation with Israeli governmental bodies, community institutions, and organizations that wish to work constructively with us to ensure that the competition continues to represent Israel and the Jewish people with integrity, dignity, and professionalism,\u201d the statement added.<\/span><\/p>\n In an Instagram video published<\/a> earlier on Wednesday, Shiraz claimed she has been \u201cpressured, intimidated, and threatened for speaking out\u201d in support of Israel by the \u201cnon-Israeli, non-Jewish directorship\u201d of the Miss Israel organization. Speaking about the process currently used to select Israel\u2019s next Miss Israel, she further said no nationwide search took place in the country and that Israeli women were \u201cnever given a genuine opportunity\u201d to compete for the country\u2019s crown. She alleged that, instead, non-Israeli Jews were encouraged to apply for the 2026 competition, represent the Jewish state, \u201cand establish eligibility afterwards,\u201d meaning apply for Israeli citizenship only after being crowned Miss Israel. She accused the competition of becoming \u201ccompletely detached from Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Miss Universe is a private organization and each country that participates is represented by an independently owned national franchise, including Miss Israel LLC. Lawyers for Miss Israel LLC told The Algemeiner<\/em> that it operates the Miss Israel competition \u201cin accordance with Miss Universe guidelines\u201d and that its owner has been an Israeli citizen \u201csince most likely before Melanie was born.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEdgar Entertainment was engaged as a professional management and production company to oversee operations, logistics, and event execution. While the owner of Edgar Entertainment \u2013 Edgar Saakyan \u2013 is neither Jewish nor Israeli, personnel and contractors are retained based on their professional qualifications and expertise,\u201d the lawyers added. \u201cIt would be unreasonable to suggest that every vendor, contractor, or employee associated with an Israeli organization must themselves be Jewish or Israeli.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Miss Israel franchise \u201cestablishes its own eligibility requirements within the framework permitted by Miss Universe,\u201d the lawyers said, in response to Shiraz\u2019s claims about the competition pushing for non-Israelis to apply. They explained in their statement that Miss Israel franchise owners decided in the last two years to open the competition to Jewish candidates outside of Israel so that the titleholder could represent Jewish identity from around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor the past two competition cycles, the franchise temporarily expanded eligibility to include women of Jewish identity worldwide as an expression of Jewish peoplehood and solidarity with the State of Israel, particularly in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks,\u201d the statement continued, referring to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and its massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, across southern Israel. \u201cThis approach was consistent in spirit with the principles underlying Israel\u2019s Law of Return and Aliyah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to the statement, unlike the previous two cycles, \u201cthe official application for the current pageant cycle \u2014 which has been publicly available on our website since the conclusion of the last competition and remains available today \u2014 explicitly requires applicants to possess either an Israeli passport or a Teudat Zehut<\/em> (Israeli national identity card).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Miss Israel organization \u201crecognizes as equally Israeli both those born in Israel and those who have chosen to make aliyah,<\/em>\u201d the lawyers said, referring to the process of Jews immigrating to Israel. \u201cWe reject any attempt to classify individuals as \u2018more\u2019 or \u2018less\u2019 Israeli based on the circumstances of their citizenship or personal background.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Shiraz made several other allegations in the Instagram video she posted on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n When the reigning Miss Israel tried to raise funds for competition expenses she paid for out of pocket, \u201cI was met with threats to pay tens of thousands of dollars in costs unrelated to my participation,\u201d she claimed. She gave details about the expenses, and claimed Saakyan also threatened to strip her of her title because of her fundraising efforts, in her interview with The Jerusalem Post<\/em> this week.<\/span><\/p>\n Shiraz additionally found fault with the fact that the Miss Israel pageant was held outside of Israel for the last two years and did not include a Hebrew-speaking component.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGenuine Israeli representation should have been the first priority,\u201d she noted, before saying she believes the \u201cintegrity of Israel\u2019s representation is being compromised.\u201d Shiraz said she expressed her concerns about the Miss Israel competition to organizers but was ignored. She also sent a complaint in February to the Miss Universe organization about \u201cfinancial extortion\u201d but said that she was ignored as well, she told The Jerusalem Post.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Shiraz additionally shared with The Jerusalem Post<\/em> a recording of an Edger Entertainment meeting that reportedly features a producer explaining how the 2026 Miss Israel competition had a predetermined winner and was designed to \u201clook like a pageant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lawyers for Miss Israel LLC told The Algemeiner<\/em> that Shiraz\u2019s decision to secretly record the private conversations, which took place in Florida, may result in them taking legal action against her.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFlorida is a two-party consent jurisdiction for the recording of private oral communications, and unauthorized recordings may carry legal consequences,\u201d the attorneys noted. \u201cWe are reviewing this matter with legal counsel and expressly reserve all rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Update:<\/strong> This article has been edited to clarify that Shiraz argued the 2026 selection process for the next Miss Israel is rigged. She did not claim that the 2024 or 2025 competitions were predetermined.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> Exclusive: Miss Israel Pageant Organizers Deny Claims by Titleholder Melanie Shiraz That 2026 Competition Is Rigged Shiryn Ghermezian Melanie Shiraz being crowned Miss Israel 2025. Photo: Simon Soong | Edgar Entertainment Organizers of the Miss Israel competition said in a statement given exclusively to The Algemeiner late Wednesday that they reject all accusations by current Miss Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131122"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131231,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131122\/revisions\/131231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![](\"https:\/\/www.algemeiner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Miss-Universe-Israel-0708882-X4.jpg\")
Melanie Shiraz being crowned Miss Israel 2025. Photo: Simon Soong | Edgar Entertainment<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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